Ohaeles lee cooke



(No Model.) 2Sheets-Sheet 1.

O. L. 000KB.

' RAILWAY. SWITGH.

No. 269,016, Patented Dec. 12,1882,

(No model. I 2 Sheetsj-S het 2.

' 0. L; GOOKE.

RAILWAY SWITCH.

Patented Dec. 12, 1882-.

N. PFI'ERS, PbowLilhognpber, Wilmington, D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT @rrtca.

CHARLES LEE COOKE, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

RAILWAY-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 269,016, dated December 12, 1882. Application filed June 3, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it mag concern: I

Be it known that I, OHARLESLEE 000102, of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented, a new and useful Improvement in Railway-Switches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of switches which are so constructed as to prevent the wheels from running from the ends of the rails to the ground when the switch is misplaced. Letters Patent of the United States No. 121,158 were granted to me November 24, 1871, for a switch of this character, and reference is here made to said Letters Patent for a full description thereof. In this patent the flan ge-supporting blocks on the outside of the track-rails are constructed of wood and covered with iron; but this construction is not sufficiently durable for use on roads having heavy traffic, and if these flange-supporting blocks are constructed of cast-iron they render the track so stifi as to cause injury to the wheels in passing over the switch, and are themselves liable to become broken.

The object of my present invention is to so construct a safety-switch of this class that it will guide the wheels which approach the misplaced switch upon the proper track in a natural and easy manner, without any sudden or abrupt changes of motion, and that such switch is composed of rail-sections, which are easily procured and put together at moderate expense, and which do not render the track hard or unyielding, thereby avoiding injury to the wheels as they pass over the switch, as will be hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, consisting of two sheets, Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved switch. Fig. 2 is a plan View, on an enlarged scale, of one of the front ends of the switch. Fig.3is across-section, on an enlarged scale, in line a; m, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a view of the front end of the filling-rail and connecting parts. Fig. 5 is aview of the rear ends of the filling and wing rails.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

connect at their rear ends with the main-track rails A A, and-which are made movable at their front ends in any suitable and well-known manner, so that their front ends can be placed opposite the adjacent ends of the main rails, or opposite the ends of the rails of the side track, B, to conduct the wheels to or from the side track or the main track, as may be desired.

D D represent two wing-rails, arranged respectively on the outer side of each of the main switch-rails O; and E represents a packin g-rail or filling arranged between each win grail D and the adjacent switch-rail G. The wing-rails D extend forward and terminate opposite the forward ends of the main switchrails 0, while the packing-rails E are shorter than the wing-rails D and do not extend to the front end of the switch-rails.

F F represent two pointed rails arranged on the inner sides of the main switch-rails C, so as to form a continuation of the rail of either the main track or the siding,'which lies on the inner side of the main switch-rail. The pointed rails F extend from the front end-of the switch rearwardly and terminate at a short distance beyond the front ends of the filling rails E. The outer front corners of the pointed rails F are rounded or chamfered off, as shown atf, to prevent the flanges of the wheels from striking against these corners if the switch is out of line with the rails of the track, or when the gage of the wheels is slightly narrower than the gage of the road.

G G represent two rearwardly-diverging guard-rails, arranged with their front ends on the inner sides of the pointed rails F F and with their rear ends on the inner sides of the mainswitch-rails C, so as to guide a wheel,

which comes in contact with the outer side of tread of the wing-rails and switch-rails, and rise gradually in arearward direction until the tread of the filling-rail E becomes flush with the adjacent treads of the wing-rail and main switch-rail.

The rear ends of the wing-rails D and fillingrails E are depressed slightly below the tread ot' the main switch-rail O, to permit tread-worn or otherwise imperfect wheels to pass over the switch without injury.

The packing-rails E are preferably constructed of rolled steel, somewhatlessin height than the adjoining and wing rails, so that the base of the packing-rail rests upon the bases of the switch and wing rail, and its head fits between the heads of the switch and wing rails, as represented in Fig. 3. The front ends of the wing-rails D are curved outwardly, so as to form a continuation of the outer tixed rails, against which they may be placed, whereby the wheels receive a tendency to continue in the direction in which they approach the misplaced switch, and to run diagonally toward the main switch-rails. I

H represents clamps applied to the under sides of the railsot' which the switch is composed, and fitted in notches formed in the outer sides of the bases of the rails, asclearly shown in Fig. 1.

1 represents space-blocks arranged between the several rails to retain them in their proper relative position, and i represents bolts which pass through the rails and these space-blocks, and which secure these parts together.

The two sides of the switch are connected by bars L, and the front end of the switch is adjusted by arod, m, in any suitable and wellknown manner. I v

In Fig. l the switch is represented as being set for the main track and misplaced for the side track. A pair of wheels approaching the switch on the main track in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1 pass over the switch in a straightline. A pair ofwheels approaching the switch in the same direction from the side track B pass from the ends of the side-track rails B on one side of the switch to the front end of the wing-rail D, and on the other side of the switch to the front end of the pointed rail F. As the Wheels pass onward over these rails the wheel passing over the pointed rail F first engages behind the front end of the guardrail G, which compels the wheel to pass diagonally toward the main switch-rail (J. After said wheel has passed beyond the front end of the guard-rail G the opposite wheel strikes with its flange the depressed front end of the filling-rail E and runs upward over the inclined front end of said rail to the top thereof, which is flush with the adjacent main switch-rail G and wing-rail D. The wheel now travels diagonally toward the main switch-rail C under the influence 0f the guard-rail G, which operates against the inner side of the opposite wheel, and finally passes over the rail 0 and drops into themain track before it has reached the rear end of the switch. Precisely the same results are obtained when the switch is set for the side track and the wheels approach the switch on the main track. When the wheel strikes the depressed front end of the fillingrail E, and whileit rolls on its'flange over the inclined front end of said filling-rail, the wheel is prevented from moving outwardly by theder all circumstances, and preventing injury:

to the running-gear. The outwardly-turned ends of the wing-rails permit the connected driving-wheels of locomotivesto pass over the switch, whenmisplaeed, easily and without straining the connecting-rods and other parts of the locomotive, as said diverging front ends of the wing-rails impart to the wheels a tendency to move diagonally toward the main track.

My improved switch is composed principally of rail-sections which may be cut from old rails, and the-switch can therefore be constructed at moderate expense, and is easily repaired, possesses great durability, and does not stiffen the track or contain any parts which project above the tread of the track-rails. The

wheels are guided over the switch easily and without abrupt changes of motion, and are not liable to be chipped or injured in passing over the switch.

I am. aware that it has been proposed to arrange the wing-rails and guard-rails higher than the track-rails, and this I do not here claim, as it renders the switch complicated, and is otherwise objectionable on account of the varying heights of the wheel-flanges, by wear of the treads and otherwise.

I claim as my inventi0n- 1. The combination, with the switch-rails G, of the wing-rails D, arranged on the same level with the switch-rails, and the packingrails E, secured between the switch-rails and wing-rails, with their treads arranged on alevel with said switch-rails and wing-rails and with their bases resting upon the bases of said rails, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with the switch-rails G, of the wing-rails D, arranged on the same level with the switch-rails, and the packing-rails E, secured between the switch-rails and the wingrails, with their treads arranged on a level with said switch-rails and wing-rails, and having inclined front ends depressed below the treads of the switch-rails and wing-rails, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with the switch-rails O,-

of the wing-rails D and filling-rails E, having their treads arranged on alevel with thetreeds 1 front corners rounded or ehamfered or the switch-rails and their rear ends detially as set forth.

, substanpressed below the level of the switch-rails, CHARLES UOOKE substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, with the switch-rails O, wing-rails D, filling-rails E, and guard-rails G, of the pointed rails F, having their inner Witnesses DANIEL BECKER, OHAs. L. BECKER. 

